Discovering Buddhism - Death and Rebirth (31 March 2009)

0:01 Oh, even that meditation is impermanent. Gone in a fleet. You guys are the only ones who heard it. I did that on Friday night for Andy Weber. I know. I didn't get recorded. Report an error in the passage at 0:01 Highlight the passage at 0:01

0:21 And there's nobody to blame but myself. So I had to practice compassion on myself, which is harder actually than somebody else in some ways. Anyway, does anybody have any questions about... About the meditation this week, the same one that we just did, or just about anything, just about maybe you were doing the readings and something came up. Cool. Report an error in the passage at 0:21 Highlight the passage at 0:21

0:47 Okay. Well, there'll be time later if something comes to you. Report an error in the passage at 0:47 Highlight the passage at 0:47

0:53 So I wanted to just start tonight with a little bit about meditation, just about what meditation is in our tradition, and just so that we're all on the same page, because I know some of you have been coming to these classes and some of them haven't, and so I'm just sorry. For those people who have heard the spiel, I just think it's useful so that we all are kind of on the same page. Report an error in the passage at 0:53 Highlight the passage at 0:53

1:19 Because otherwise I think there are so many different ways that meditation is described in our culture that it's not always the same as what I'm talking about when I call it meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:19 Highlight the passage at 1:19

1:38 Lama Yeshe used to call meditation making a laboratory in your mind. And it's sort of like you're creating this space to look at both your mind and what makes up your mind and ultimately reality. But first we start with our mind. And so we start eliminating the distractions through practice one by one. Report an error in the passage at 1:38 Highlight the passage at 1:38

2:03 And then as we do that, we're able to go deeper and deeper into. Our mind and into the object that we're meditating on. So it's sort of like our mind, it's like we as the meditator and the mind itself becomes, you know, the mind is both the microscope and the object under the microscope, which is unusual. Report an error in the passage at 2:03 Highlight the passage at 2:03

2:29 but um so we develop the the strength of our concentration so that that microscope has or that tool It has the power to penetrate, you know, to get deeper and deeper into the truth. Report an error in the passage at 2:29 Highlight the passage at 2:29

2:46 But we also, the whole practice of meditating allows us an opportunity to kind of see what a mess we are, to see how distracted we are, to see how our mind works in terms of one thought begetting another one, one after another. Report an error in the passage at 2:46 Highlight the passage at 2:46

3:09 By the time you get to the 75th thought, there's absolutely, sometimes by the time you get to the third thought, there's no relationship to the first, if there ever was a first. Of course, the Buddhist teaching is that there isn't a first, that there's just this continual stream of consciousness. And we just go through life after life aimlessly and without restraint, following all of our thoughts. And that, unfortunately, most of them are either kind of... Report an error in the passage at 3:09 Highlight the passage at 3:09

3:38 I wouldn't say worthless, but not positive. And quite a few of them might be negative as well. And so if we just aimlessly follow them without restraint, without trying to subdue our mind, we just get into trouble. I mean, that's actually what the Buddha says is the source of all of our suffering, is sort of the key, the key to eliminating the suffering that we experience in our... Report an error in the passage at 3:38 Highlight the passage at 3:38

4:05 Body and mind and even our future rebirth is actually within our own mind. It starts with meditation. So the Buddha didn't teach meditation for us just to relax, you know, and then calmly age and die. That wasn't his goal. He wanted us to meditate as a way for us to get to know how mind works, not just ours, but everyone else's is just like ours, believe it or not. Report an error in the passage at 4:05 Highlight the passage at 4:05

4:32 Everyone always assumes that they have some deep, dirty, dark secret, and they kind of confess to me privately that they have this. It sort of helps you develop compassion for others by beginning to meditate because you have to have compassion for yourself. Report an error in the passage at 4:32 Highlight the passage at 4:32

4:53 So he really wanted us to get closer to reality, to understand. How saṃsāra works, saṃsāra being this condition that we're in where we just keep following this unsubdued mind and due to these afflicted states of mind like anger, jealousy, depression, grasping, we act and then we create that karma and then that karma ripens and then that ripening is our suffering and that ripening is our reality. Report an error in the passage at 4:53 Highlight the passage at 4:53

5:26 And that ripening ultimately leads to... You know, suffering, illness, death, all those horrible things that we have to go through, not just in this life. You know, the Buddha's pointing out it's not just this one life and that there's a way to end it. And so that way to end it begins with suffering. The way to end it begins with meditating. Sticking in these key sentences to see if you're listening. Report an error in the passage at 5:26 Highlight the passage at 5:26

5:53 And the good news is, is that... It doesn't require us to be anything other than, it doesn't require us to change our lives. Like we can meditate now. We can start to meditate now. We might be busy. We might not be very smart. We might have kids. We might have, you know, other things that are going on in our lives. Report an error in the passage at 5:53 Highlight the passage at 5:53

6:16 But all of us can learn to meditate because the main thing is just showing up. It's just continually showing up. I'm just continuing showing up and I'm definitely one who can speak to that. So in Tibetan, the word for meditation is gom, which is why it's called a gompa meditation hall. But gom actually literally translates into to habituate or become familiar with something. So what we become familiar with... Report an error in the passage at 6:16 Highlight the passage at 6:16

6:52 Ultimately, it's reality itself, but it begins with becoming familiar with our mind. We start with getting to know our mind. And what we do, what we begin to see is, first of all, we begin to see that these thoughts that are pulling us in all these crazy directions are essenceless. We give them all the power that they have. Report an error in the passage at 6:52 Highlight the passage at 6:52

7:14 We keep giving them more and more power over us, but in reality, they have no power from their own side. They just arise and fall away, arise and fall away. They compare it to an ocean. But we also become familiar with all the positive, skillful, creative... You know, states of mind that we do have. You know, we begin to see that we have the potential for Buddha mind, actually, you know, which is a mind exactly like ours. Report an error in the passage at 7:14 Highlight the passage at 7:14

7:50 It's just, he put a lot of work into it. So this surprises people because in our tradition, meditation isn't about just emptying your mind of all thoughts. You know, it's... The goal of meditation is to see the reality in the fact that you stop following those thoughts. The thoughts arise and you put your effort into remaining concentrated on whatever your object is. Report an error in the passage at 7:50 Highlight the passage at 7:50

8:22 So meditation is really concentrated and focused and aware. One of my teachers used to say, it's having a mind that's bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Report an error in the passage at 8:22 Highlight the passage at 8:22

8:36 It's not spacing out. It's not just being dull. It's not gaga. Report an error in the passage at 8:36 Highlight the passage at 8:36

8:51 It's definitely, once you decide what your object is of meditation, and this week it was impermanence, even with a conceptual thought like that, we are still trying to keep our mind on the object and not allowing it to run this way and that. Gaga, you know. Report an error in the passage at 8:51 Highlight the passage at 8:51

9:06 And it's harder in some ways with a conceptual idea than it is on the breath. But then again, the breath is pretty hard sometimes. So one of my teachers, Tenzin Palmo, who has spent quite a lot of time in this life meditating, says, I think this quote is really, really powerful, so I'm starting to use it in almost every class. Report an error in the passage at 9:06 Highlight the passage at 9:06

9:27 The mind should be spacious and peaceful. But also clear, bright and aware. Our awareness should be vivid, unwavering, shining and sharp. There is a sense that a light has gone on in the mind, very bright and clear. When we get up from meditation, we should be vivid, clear and bright, not spaced out. We are not becoming a bliss cloud. We are trying to become more present, more crisp and more aware. Is this happening for us? Report an error in the passage at 9:27 Highlight the passage at 9:27

9:56 If we just get blissed out, hazy and cloudy, it's not working. And I do want to say that it doesn't happen overnight. But that is the goal. And I think it's important to know that that's the goal, because I think a lot of times Westerners do just get spaced out. You know, they'll just space out for... Report an error in the passage at 9:56 Highlight the passage at 9:56

10:16 Sometimes an hour or two and think that they're meditating. And I think actually we can just waste time that way. It's no different than just daydreaming on the sofa. You might as well just be daydreaming on the sofa. You might be more comfortable. You might be getting a little rest. So there are a couple of types of meditation and I think that's where the confusion lies. Report an error in the passage at 10:16 Highlight the passage at 10:16

10:42 What we're trying to do when we meditate on the breath is develop what's called stabilizing meditation. The breath is just one possible object and we all have one. Report an error in the passage at 10:42 Highlight the passage at 10:42

10:54 And so it's easy. It keeps you in the moment in a way that other objects don't. We always have it with us until we don't. Report an error in the passage at 10:54 Highlight the passage at 10:54

11:05 So you can use it again at times in your life that you get upset, you can come back to the breath. So there's a lot of good reasons for using the breath. But the main focus of it is different than other awareness meditations where we might be just trying to bring some awareness to bodily processes or whatever like we were doing, thinking about what's going on in our body when it's moving and stuff like that. Report an error in the passage at 11:05 Highlight the passage at 11:05

11:28 When we're focusing on the breath doing a concentration meditation, we are trying to keep our mind... I said 100 % or possibly 60 % meaning with at least a primary, like primarily on the object as much as you can and constantly trying to bring it back to the object. And concentration or stabilizing meditation is a lot about that, just bringing it back, bringing it back. Not going off into I can't do this. Report an error in the passage at 11:28 Highlight the passage at 11:28

11:58 I'm stupid. I'm a bad meditator. You've gone off the object then. There is no I in that moment. You are simply on the breath, you know, not thinking about dinner. It doesn't mean you won't, but you just constantly bring it back. Eventually, the moments of concentration get longer and longer, and the moments of distraction get shorter and shorter, and that's just what we're aiming for. Report an error in the passage at 11:58 Highlight the passage at 11:58

12:23 Then with analytical meditation, which is unique to this tradition, The tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, the mind is moving. It's not unique to have a form of meditation where the mind is moving, because ultimately when we meditate on emptiness, we will apply both types of meditation. So that's where this one comes from. But for us, the one that we use the most in this class, this is this one called analytical, where we're going to be contemplating something like impermanence or death. Report an error in the passage at 12:23 Highlight the passage at 12:23

12:57 And our mind is using reasonings and quotes and personal experience, using it to sort of chip away at this ignorant mind of ours. You know, we just chip, chip, chip, and it takes repeated. And sometimes it's almost like brutal. It does at times feel, especially with death, it's because the mind is like, yikes, you know, I'm going to go read a novel now. Report an error in the passage at 12:57 Highlight the passage at 12:57

13:20 And so it's good to know what it is you're trying to do. What you're trying to do is to get your mind to realize that, You know, things are impermanent. It's not a difficult thing to understand. What's difficult is that we don't want to understand it. You know, so it's not like we're trying to understand emptiness. We're not trying to even understand, you know, how the 12 links lead to our suffering. Report an error in the passage at 13:20 Highlight the passage at 13:20

13:45 You know, so there are definitely some very complex things in Buddhism. This isn't one of them. We all know we're impermanent, ultimately. I mean, intellectually, we all know. But our mind doesn't let us remember it in a way that actually makes a difference in our life. And so with this, especially for this class, we have to just keep, you know, it's like the MRI thing. Report an error in the passage at 13:45 Highlight the passage at 13:45

14:13 It's like we just keep firing away at it and trying to get the experience where we literally have one of those insights, the aha moments that we're like. Report an error in the passage at 14:13 Highlight the passage at 14:13

14:25 Because that's much more, did anybody feel the earthquake yesterday? It's like that. They're like little earthquakes that kind of begin to put a crack in this solid, ignorant mind of ours and the way that we perceive reality incorrectly, which is what the Buddha says is the cause of all of our suffering. Report an error in the passage at 14:25 Highlight the passage at 14:25

14:46 And if we can actually do something about it just in this life. That's why I motivated this class. If we could all in this room get it that things are impermanent, just that, much less, you know, direct perception of emptiness and generating bodhicitta and, you know, getting enlightened, it could totally change the way we live because we would live with more meaning. Report an error in the passage at 14:46 Highlight the passage at 14:46

15:11 We would, we wouldn't fight. We would find a resolution if you really got it that you could die tonight, you know, you know, but it takes repeatedly. Analyzing it and trying to gain these little moments of insight. So when you get a moment of insight like that, the goal of analytical meditation is then to apply your concentrated, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed mind to that moment for as long as it lasts, which could be two seconds. Report an error in the passage at 15:11 Highlight the passage at 15:11

15:41 It doesn't have to be for hours. Great if you could do it for hours, but to keep it literally bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, not being a bliss cloud. So just focusing with all of your energy and effort on that insight, just the experience of that insight. So stop the analysis. And then the mind gets distracted again, and then rather than just letting it get distracted, continue on with your analysis. Report an error in the passage at 15:41 Highlight the passage at 15:41

16:09 So this is the point of analytical meditation. It's kind of using what we already know how to do. But in a more positive way. So instead of thinking of all the reasons why I should get that raise and not, you know, Bill. Report an error in the passage at 16:09 Highlight the passage at 16:09

16:24 Or all the reasons why, you know, he betrayed me. Or, you know, like all the things that we do with our minds. All the reasons why I should get that last piece of chocolate cake and not give it to Samantha. Report an error in the passage at 16:24 Highlight the passage at 16:24

16:36 Which is the kind of thing that we do with our minds. We know how to reason. We know how to justify. We know how to, you know. Stack up a powerful argument to ourselves. This is just doing the same thing, but with taking some of the Buddhist teachings and trying to impress them upon our mind, chip away at that ignorant mind. Report an error in the passage at 16:36 Highlight the passage at 16:36

16:58 So those are the two main types of meditation. Mostly we'll be working with analytical, but because we need concentration within analytical meditation, Report an error in the passage at 16:58 Highlight the passage at 16:58

17:11 We always will do some concentration as well, even if it's literally just a round of 10 breaths to calm the mind. The more focused, you can kind of get a taste, the more focused our mind is all the time, we will get that side effect of calm, you know, that a lot of times people started out looking for. Report an error in the passage at 17:11 Highlight the passage at 17:11

17:29 A lot of times when we take a meditation class at the Y or something like that, we are trying to de-stress, right? We're trying to calm down. We're trying to Report an error in the passage at 17:29 Highlight the passage at 17:29

17:39 Have a peaceful mind. And ultimately we get one as a side effect when we just gain more concentration because we aren't giving in to all those distracted thoughts. And the effect is a relief from all those distracted thoughts and all those afflicted thoughts. And it is calm and it is blissful and it is peaceful. Report an error in the passage at 17:39 Highlight the passage at 17:39

18:02 But all of my teachers always say, that's sort of by the way. It's like a side effect. It's not what the main goal of meditation is. The main goal of meditation is for us to actually get out of this mess and to be able to help everybody else get out too. So it might be a little bit bigger than you thought of, but it's okay. Report an error in the passage at 18:02 Highlight the passage at 18:02

18:23 So meditation practice is best done on a daily basis, which is why, of course, I give you guys homework. I do not consider myself a major meditator. However, I am passionate about What meditation does for one's life, not even for being able to sit in samādhi for hours and hours. It should have an effect on your life. Especially when you're doing these analytical meditations, bring it into your life. Report an error in the passage at 18:23 Highlight the passage at 18:23

18:57 Like one of my friends used to call it putting on your long-room glasses. So if we're meditating on impermanence, then the rest of the day think about impermanence. If we're thinking about death, bring it into your life. As you're standing in line in the grocery store, wow, all these people are going to die. Report an error in the passage at 18:57 Highlight the passage at 18:57

19:20 They aren't getting it right now. It's not in a judgmental way, but just awareness. If you're fighting with somebody, bring it up. Oh yeah, wait a second. So it should have an effect on the rest of your life. you know, know. Report an error in the passage at 19:20 Highlight the passage at 19:20

19:37 In little and in big ways. And the only way it can ever do that is by doing it on a daily basis. You know, it's the only way. So for the time being at least to commit for the length of this class, which is very short, even if you go for the second month add-on too, you know, just where you're just doing all the meditations for a little bit longer, just make a commitment in your mind to try. Report an error in the passage at 19:37 Highlight the passage at 19:37

20:05 During this class to sit every day for 15 minutes, you know, that's really the only way I have ever found to do. I, you know, set vows, you know, set determination, you know, one month, three months, six months, whatever, and then evaluate, like, how's it going? That way it doesn't feel like, oh, I have to change my entire life for the rest of my life, you know, it's just like, I'm just going to try this out. It's just like a... Report an error in the passage at 20:05 Highlight the passage at 20:05

20:31 That's like an exercise routine or something. It's like those knee strengthening exercises that I downloaded. Just determining I'm going to do this and I'm going to do this for X amount of time and then I'm going to evaluate how is it going, you know. And that's really the only way. There are additional things that you can think about in terms of setting up a space that you like and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 20:31 Highlight the passage at 20:31

20:53 And if people want, I can send you guys some. Information about that because we aren't really going to handle that in this class. But it is really, really, really important to do some meditation. That being said, of course, if you haven't done it, don't drop the class. Still come and absorb. But the only way really that any of the material in here will ever shift your mind in any significant way is through meditating. Report an error in the passage at 20:53 Highlight the passage at 20:53

21:22 Because otherwise it just becomes more and more information. I was going to say God knows, but that's not so great for a Buddhist nun. But Tara knows we have enough information in this life, so we don't really need more information. And none of this is new to you, really, especially in this class. This isn't so new to you. What will be new is if you can go deeply into it, you know, or at least try to go deeply into it in the amount of time that you have, especially because like this class, we're only going to have two. Report an error in the passage at 21:22 Highlight the passage at 21:22

21:52 Two meditations before the next class hits already. So you're just going to have to play with that a little bit. But they build on each other. The next few classes are going to be working on the same meditation, which has three parts. So they'll all be connected. So does anybody have any questions about meditation in general before I get started on death? Report an error in the passage at 21:52 Highlight the passage at 21:52

22:19 Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 22:19 Highlight the passage at 22:19

22:25 Oh, good. I had that in there, but I sort of lost my place and I gave up. In the morning is what they say. It's not true for 100%. It's true for probably 90 % of us. Before we get our mind to thinking about the day, before we've even, you know, talked to anyone, if it's possible. It's hard if you live with a partner or whatever. But our kids. Report an error in the passage at 22:25 Highlight the passage at 22:25

22:56 Which is even harder than a partner. But they say that our mind is sort of fresher in the morning. Ultimately, of course, it would be great to meditate more than once a day. But at first in the morning, and I've known people that have experimented with like literally just waking up and before you even leave bed, just starting to meditate, like literally in the bed. Report an error in the passage at 22:56 Highlight the passage at 22:56

23:20 To try to avoid that thinking mind that begins to kick in. For me, I've got this really active mind that has these to-do lists. Report an error in the passage at 23:20 Highlight the passage at 23:20

23:31 It's like trying to figure out ways to get past that and just to meditate. That being said, I actually know people who do better meditating at night. They just have good energy at night. It's a time that they kind of feel more relaxed, you know, because they don't have to go somewhere. So you'll have to decide, you know, experiment. Report an error in the passage at 23:31 Highlight the passage at 23:31

23:54 And I would experiment, you know, over the course of a certain amount of time. So you kind of get an idea. That's one thing that's really great if you are beginning to meditate is to keep a meditation journal. Because then you can kind of think about not saying, oh, this one sucked. It's really good. But more like, you know, didn't get enough sleep last night and really felt it, you know. Report an error in the passage at 23:54 Highlight the passage at 23:54

24:19 And like, so you can begin to see the things that might have affected your meditation just from your own side, rather than me saying, you need to get a lot of sleep in order to meditate well. You know, you yourself will have the experience. So it will mean something more to you. You might see the effect of certain diet. Report an error in the passage at 24:19 Highlight the passage at 24:19

24:37 You might see the effect of, you know, what time of day. Even within the morning, there are different times, you know, early, early morning versus, you know, before your breakfast versus mid-morning and so forth. And most of us have lives that we can only choose one time, you know, but try. The other thing about the morning that works really well is that you can be more consistent with the morning. Report an error in the passage at 24:37 Highlight the passage at 24:37

25:05 For the most part, most of us can, whereas the evening can change according to the day and things like that. In the morning, it's harder for things to come up if you're setting your time to meditate at 6 a.m. or something. Anyway, that's enough on meditation for now. But don't be discouraged. Just kind of decide. Report an error in the passage at 25:05 Highlight the passage at 25:05

25:30 At least for me, what I have to just decide is... you know, so. Report an error in the passage at 25:30 Highlight the passage at 25:30

25:35 This is just what I'm going to do for the rest of my life. You know, so it's not something like I'm I mean, you guys might still be trying it on for size. I just feel like, yeah, if my mind is is crazy, you know, it changes from day to day. But if my mind is crazy, that's just more reason to meditate and more proof that I need to meditate rather than reason not to. Report an error in the passage at 25:35 Highlight the passage at 25:35

25:58 So just to just to carry on, you know, just kind of. It's like walking or exercising or something. It's just like we have to do something for the rest of our lives. So you just keep doing it. You just figure out ways to keep doing it. Report an error in the passage at 25:58 Highlight the passage at 25:58

26:12 So death. Let me get started on some thoughts about death. I like quotes, so I'm bringing in another quote. Lama Atisha, who is the great pandit who came to Tibet and reintroduced Buddhism to Tibet around this. Just after 1100 I guess. He said if one doesn't meditate on death and impermanence in the morning the whole day is wasted. Report an error in the passage at 26:12 Highlight the passage at 26:12

26:41 If not in the afternoon the evening is wasted. If not in the evening the whole night is wasted. So his point I guess is just to meditate on it all the time. Report an error in the passage at 26:41 Highlight the passage at 26:41

26:56 So as I was saying the thought that we are all going to die is not a huge Report an error in the passage at 26:56 Highlight the passage at 26:56

27:06 Realization in any of our minds. I think once we get to any point, even in our mid-20s, we have known somebody who has died. Report an error in the passage at 27:06 Highlight the passage at 27:06

27:15 But we haven't necessarily actualized that realization within our mind stream, so it hasn't necessarily affected how we treat people, the priorities we have in our life and our time, things like that. It hasn't gone as deeply as it could. Report an error in the passage at 27:15 Highlight the passage at 27:15

27:39 So what we need to do is to get beyond this idea of, yes, I know I'm going to die, but it'll be sometime, which is where we sort of conveniently keep it. And to really get it that, you know, I'm really only going to be on this planet for a certain amount of time and it's limited and I have X amount of time to get something done, to do something. Report an error in the passage at 27:39 Highlight the passage at 27:39

28:02 What would I do? You know, there's that book. I forgot now the title. I think it's a Stephen Levine book where you live a whole year as if you're going to die. I can't remember what it's called. I just was looking at it the other day, too. Anyway, but, you know, it's that idea of just like what would you do if, you know, you knew that you were dying. Report an error in the passage at 28:02 Highlight the passage at 28:02

28:27 One of our... Friends here, one of the people that works for Liberation Prison Project, her mom has brain cancer and is definitely dying. And she's leaving tonight to just go and be with her while she's doing chemo, but there's no real hope. And that could be any of us. That could be any of us. So how would I live differently if that were me? Report an error in the passage at 28:27 Highlight the passage at 28:27

28:53 How would I change what I do with my life and what I do with my time and how I spend it and things like that. That's what we're trying to get with these meditations is a sort of urgency of doing something productive and beneficial with this life. That's really what it's about. One of my teachers also said that we can have this sort of half-hearted practice all the way up. Report an error in the passage at 28:53 Highlight the passage at 28:53

29:22 Until death, but if it's half-hearted at death, like, it's not going to help us, you know. That's where the, what's that saying? That's where the, yeah, I was thinking there's something at the pudding, too, isn't there? But I could think it was that's where the rubber hits the pudding, and I'm like, no, that's not right. Proof is in the pudding, there you go. I knew pudding was in there somewhere. That's where my own pudding needs. Report an error in the passage at 29:22 Highlight the passage at 29:22

29:47 But we're not trying to freak ourselves out. There was this woman in the first long retreat that I did. It wasn't long, but comparatively long. Three-month retreat that I did. This woman had this complete... She was completely freaked out by the death thing. And we sort of rotated who was going to lead the motivation for each session. Report an error in the passage at 29:47 Highlight the passage at 29:47

30:11 We were mostly in silence. So whenever she would lead it, I mean, it would just be so intense. It was just like, we could just die before the end of this session. It would all be like, and you're just kind of waiting for her to end the motivation so you could just get started. But by the end of it, we're all just sort of sitting there. And that's not the point. Report an error in the passage at 30:11 Highlight the passage at 30:11

30:33 Like we don't want that kind of grasping, freaked out mind. Because that actually comes from, and actually, you know, I'm not saying she's not a great practitioner, but that freaked out mind of grasping at this life kind of is a mind that develops when we don't do spiritual practice, when we haven't examined this life and what follows and we haven't really gone deeply into the purpose of our lives, the meaning of our lives. Report an error in the passage at 30:33 Highlight the passage at 30:33

31:11 It also hasn't looked very deeply into the Buddhist teachings in terms of what follows, because the main thing that we get out of thinking about death is, I mean, the main thing, right, that people think if you find out that you're dying, you want to know what's next, like what follows. And then in Buddhism, because of the whole karma thing, the whole law of cause and effect. Report an error in the passage at 31:11 Highlight the passage at 31:11

31:38 How we live this life has a complete effect on what follows. So then we start thinking about how we live this life even more, you know. So it just becomes a way of becoming more and more mindful, not just of the shortness of how much time we have here, but also how we're going to use it, you know, how we're going to develop the qualities that we want, what we're going to do with this time becomes much more precious. Report an error in the passage at 31:38 Highlight the passage at 31:38

32:07 It becomes more precious to us, what we're going to do with this. So we have to start by thinking that basically there's no way out other than death. That's a given. And so we start thinking about the fact, okay, if that's the given, then what am I going to do with this life? What am I going to do? Report an error in the passage at 32:07 Highlight the passage at 32:07

32:31 So we start thinking about the fact that nobody... This body of ours or this situation that we're in is created by what's called karma and delusion, karma and mental afflictions. The mental afflictions, as I said before, are minds that are uncontrolled and that causes any kind of suffering at all. That's actually the definition of an afflicted state of mind is anything that disturbs the mind, you know, anything. So slightest irritation at the printer. Report an error in the passage at 32:31 Highlight the passage at 32:31

33:06 Which is my personal. Or all the way up to Hitler. All the horrors of this planet have come from one mind being not subdued. Report an error in the passage at 33:06 Highlight the passage at 33:06

33:25 So it behooves us to... to get to know how our mind works. So those crazy states of mind cause us to act and then we act and we create karma and then that karma ripens as our suffering or our pleasure if it's positive. And we keep thinking about how that whole cycle is caused and that cycle is called saṃsāra or cyclic existence. Report an error in the passage at 33:25 Highlight the passage at 33:25

33:50 Um, so, um, This is actually the cause for us to have a body like this. Our body is sort of in the nature of suffering and in the nature of death. The fact that the moment we're born, our death is inside of us basically. It's because this body is made, it's created from karma and delusion. Report an error in the passage at 33:50 Highlight the passage at 33:50

34:20 Buddha's bodies are caused by what's called sort of unstained karma. They still... create karma but because their actions are so positive constantly to benefit their bodies don't have to die their bodies literally transcend death It's actually so radical. It's trying to help us transcend. And, um, um... Report an error in the passage at 34:20 Highlight the passage at 34:20

34:56 All of the pain and suffering of this world, beginning with impermanence and death. So first we have to look at the fact that there's nobody who has a body like this that's made of karma and delusion, that's created by karma and delusion, who's exempt from death. There's nobody, no matter how good they are or how powerful they are or how... Report an error in the passage at 34:56 Highlight the passage at 34:56

35:25 you know. Whether they're in long retreat, whether they're doing really good work in the world, no matter what, even the Buddha himself had to pass. Because as long as you take a body on, then you have to die. Report an error in the passage at 35:25 Highlight the passage at 35:25

35:48 So before we get into the first of the three points, they always start. Whenever you have any teachings in Buddhism, they always give you the advantages and the disadvantages of studying this thing. So this is the first. The disadvantages first of not studying or not focusing or not meditating on a Burma Tsongkhapa, and then the advantages of it. Report an error in the passage at 35:48 Highlight the passage at 35:48

36:14 I think this is like the little advertisement. So that we go, oh yeah, of course, then I want to study it, you know. It doesn't always work, but I think it's useful. I think it's useful. Report an error in the passage at 36:14 Highlight the passage at 36:14

36:27 The first one is the disadvantages of not remembering death at all times or not meditating on death. I think I put, the reason I startled it is I said the disadvantages of meditating on death. No, that's not right. Of not meditating on death. Report an error in the passage at 36:27 Highlight the passage at 36:27

36:46 You will not remember the Dharma or practice it. You get absorbed into just thinking about this life and all the mundane concerns like where are you going to eat, what movie are you going to watch, what are you doing at work, what are you going to wear, what are you going to do with your hair, and things like that. Report an error in the passage at 36:46 Highlight the passage at 36:46

37:10 You just get sort of absorbed more and more into the things that basically will change day to day and you'll lose anyway. And so the whole point is if you don't remember death, then you won't remember to practice. Report an error in the passage at 37:10 Highlight the passage at 37:10

37:27 Even if you do remember to practice, you end up procrastinating or postponing the really important stuff like doing any kind of deeper or longer retreats. studying or going to see his holiness when you have a chance or things like that. I mean, and I'm guilty of all these things too. Just always thinking you have more time. Report an error in the passage at 37:27 Highlight the passage at 37:27

37:48 Always thinking you have more time. If you do try to practice, And you do try to do some retreat and you do try to, you know, kind of go for some of these things. Your practice won't be pure. And pure here just means sincere. Report an error in the passage at 37:48 Highlight the passage at 37:48

38:19 It won't be very sincere. You know, you'll just be doing it because you want, you know, you think it's kind of cool to do or you want people to think that you're cool or, you know, you're not. It's like sort of going into that half-hearted practice again. Report an error in the passage at 38:19 Highlight the passage at 38:19

38:39 Or you'll just do it as long as your life is good and then if something goes wrong, then you'll drop it, you know, things like that. Report an error in the passage at 38:39 Highlight the passage at 38:39

38:49 The fourth is you'll lose your determination to practice and eventually you'll drop it altogether. And you'll do it sort of mindlessly and then you'll lose interest in it. And worst of all, you'll think it doesn't work. You might even tell other people it doesn't work. Report an error in the passage at 38:49 Highlight the passage at 38:49

39:07 so, um... It's, you know, they say actually it's not, it's not thinking, it's not thinking sort of subjectively like, yes, I know I will die. It's, it's thinking I, what, how would I live my life if I knew I would die tonight? And then like doing that, the meditation like that, you know, one of my teachers used to say, if you, you know, if somebody said, hold this bowl of oil on your head and walk across the room. Report an error in the passage at 39:07 Highlight the passage at 39:07

39:41 You'd be like, I can't do that. But if somebody held a gun, you could do it. And it's kind of like that. It's sort of like, how would your meditation change if you really thought you only had a few more weeks? If you really felt like, if you really got it, that you didn't have that much time. And this practice should be the kind of practice that makes you go for it. Report an error in the passage at 39:41 Highlight the passage at 39:41

40:11 You know, you're like, oh, my God, I got to get I got to get this. You know, I got to go for this. I got to really, you know, really apply myself. The fifth that is that you'll just continue creating more negative actions and you won't get liberated. You won't attain nirvāṇa. You won't get enlightened, which makes sense because you just get more and more pulled into daily life. Report an error in the passage at 40:11 Highlight the passage at 40:11

40:36 And then at the time that you die, you'll just have this intense regret. If you've ever been with anyone who's died, who's had actually the opportunity to have some space around their dying and didn't die suddenly, there's sometimes a lot of regret there. There's sometimes a lot of regret. Maybe they feel like they wasted their time or something like that. That comes up a lot. So, yeah, if you don't think about it, if you're not ready for it, it will surprise you, and you will. Report an error in the passage at 40:36 Highlight the passage at 40:36

41:08 Feel regret for having wasted time. So the advantages are sort of like, you know, the flip side of this. The advantages of meditating on death and impermanence are that your Dharma practice becomes more pure, more sincere, in other words, which might mean that you become sort of, you know, odd man out in the scheme of things because your goals are completely different. Report an error in the passage at 41:08 Highlight the passage at 41:08

41:39 Buddhist goals and society's goals are somewhat different sometimes. You may already begin to notice this. So keeping your eye on some larger goal might mean that you don't sort of fit in with the goals of mainstream society. Report an error in the passage at 41:39 Highlight the passage at 41:39

41:56 Your Dharma actions become more powerful, more effective. Your practice becomes more powerful because you're actually doing it. You know, with some mindfulness and some awareness and some strength, you throw yourself into it. It's beneficial at the beginning, middle and end of your dharma practice. Those are three. Beneficial at the beginning because you... Report an error in the passage at 41:56 Highlight the passage at 41:56

42:22 You know, you actually sort of step up your practice. Remember in the first class in last week when I was saying that when I did my first solar retreat, Lama Zopa Rinpoche told me to meditate every day on impermanence and death. I think that's what he was doing. I think it was a skillful means of kind of like, you know, amping it up a little bit. Like, you know, okay. Report an error in the passage at 42:22 Highlight the passage at 42:22

42:43 This girl's got six weeks to get it, you know. I mean, I was ready. By the end of that retreat, I'm like, yeah, I want to go get ordained, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 42:43 Highlight the passage at 42:43

42:53 Because, I mean, you get it. Even just in some short amount of time, you know, you begin to get the preciousness of your life. You want to go for something. You want to do something with your mind with this opportunity. But it also helps you avoid, does anybody... Who was in the last class remember what the eight worldly concerns are? Report an error in the passage at 42:53 Highlight the passage at 42:53

43:19 Pop quiz. Gain and loss, praise and blame. We could say pleasure and pain and good reputation and bad reputation. It's all the things that constantly pull us from doing anything meaningful in that really kind of mundane, boring way that the eight worldly concerns actually work. Report an error in the passage at 43:19 Highlight the passage at 43:19

43:41 But Thinking about death and impermanence sort of helps you cut through those eight worldly concerns, you know. We really don't care so much about good reputation or bad reputation if we think we're dying, you know. It doesn't, you know, even pleasure and pain because we stop having that much control over it too, I think. So it sort of helps us push through it. Report an error in the passage at 43:41 Highlight the passage at 43:41

44:08 It helps us prioritize things and so forth. Report an error in the passage at 44:08 Highlight the passage at 44:08

44:14 It's beneficial in the middle of your practice because, of course, your mind sort of starts to get tired. You know, after a few years of doing this, you kind of lose that momentum. Report an error in the passage at 44:14 Highlight the passage at 44:14

44:27 You know, just start that lay low, you know, that just not feeling like it pops up, you know, I'm kind of tired. I don't feel like getting up again and meditating. Same old thing, you know, remembering death. That can do it. I've had friends who will put death quotes all around their bed. Actually, I should do that again. I've done that in retreat before. Report an error in the passage at 44:27 Highlight the passage at 44:27

44:51 And it's beneficial at the end of your practice. Again, just to, you know, it's sort of like, well, I deserve to kind of kick back now and just relax and stuff. Sometimes they say it's sort of like, it's sort of like you've worked really, really hard in a retreat. And then in the final few... you know um Report an error in the passage at 44:51 Highlight the passage at 44:51

45:11 You know, days or weeks or whatever, you just sort of kick back. Remembering death sort of gets you past that, you know, feeling like, okay, now I can relax. I'm going to rest on my laurels, you know. One of my teachers said it sort of acts like antibiotics after the obvious signs of the disease are gone. Report an error in the passage at 45:11 Highlight the passage at 45:11

45:28 You still got to keep doing it. And then, of course, in the hour of your death, you will have some satisfaction that you've used your life well, which... Definitely makes the difference between a so-called good death and a bad death. Some sense, some sort of peace of mind, some feeling that you've done the right thing. Report an error in the passage at 45:28 Highlight the passage at 45:28

45:52 They say a good Dharma student dies happily. Like with teachers, they say literally it's like going home. It's like they're joyful in their death. Report an error in the passage at 45:52 Highlight the passage at 45:52

46:06 of the Actually, the woman who used to run Tara Home, which is end-of-life care, really it's just one cabin at Land of Medicine Buddha. She said that Lama Zopa Rinpoche wanted them to put in the description of what... Tara Holm could do is to help you die happily. And she said that it's so insane in terms of what our culture thinks of as death that they felt like they couldn't say absolutely. Report an error in the passage at 46:06 Highlight the passage at 46:06

46:38 But she said 100 % of the people who have come, and granted they haven't had so many, but still they've all died happily, which is pretty good odds. Report an error in the passage at 46:38 Highlight the passage at 46:38

46:51 And part of it is just feeling like they've done something meaningful with their life. By the way, that is a tip if you ever are with somebody and you have a chance to make them feel good about what they've done with their life, no matter if they're Dharma practices or not. That was one thing I had to do with my mom. She was just like in the final, literally the final couple of days, she just felt like suddenly she had wasted her time, that kind of panic. Report an error in the passage at 46:51 Highlight the passage at 46:51

47:20 And just, you know, impressing upon that person all of the good things that they've done and how, you know, what an effect they've had on us. That's so powerful at the time of death in calming a person's mind. Report an error in the passage at 47:20 Highlight the passage at 47:20

47:34 So make sure that you know some of those good things. It's easy with a mom. Yeah, so they say a good Dharma student dies happily, a medium student goes without fear, and at the very least... Um, um, Report an error in the passage at 47:34 Highlight the passage at 47:34

47:49 The least we can hope for is to die without regret. So I like that. So questions about that and then you guys can have a break and then we're going to do the first of these meditations. I'm going to actually do it for you, lead you guys through it. Should I do that or should I explain it to you first? Report an error in the passage at 47:49 Highlight the passage at 47:49

48:12 We only have time for one or the other. Report an error in the passage at 48:12 Highlight the passage at 48:12

48:17 I think I'm going to lead. I think I'll lead it. I think it'll be more experiential that way. So, yes, I'll do that. But why don't we, are there any questions about stuff we just talked about? And then you guys can take a break. No questions tonight. What's up? Well, a couple, I guess. All right. So go ahead and take a break. How about five minutes? Is that enough? Okay. Report an error in the passage at 48:17 Highlight the passage at 48:17

48:58 Oh, yeah. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 48:58 Highlight the passage at 48:58

49:02 I think everybody who's here filled out a form. It was confusing to me. Your mom's? Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 49:02 Highlight the passage at 49:02

49:19 Yeah, yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 49:19 Highlight the passage at 49:19

49:25 It was just like Report an error in the passage at 49:25 Highlight the passage at 49:25

49:31 we had some money, but we didn't have all the money. So then I tried to contact, well, your mom, I contacted. Because I thought maybe it somehow just ended up going into the box. Right. I think that's very possible. I'm just going to assume. I'm going to tell Jeff. Report an error in the passage at 49:31 Highlight the passage at 49:31

49:50 With the guys that were sitting in the back, Kent and Mike, I contacted Kent and it just seemed like he was confused and he kept saying that he had paid. I'm like, no, no, I know that you paid. I'm assuming you paid. But anyway, I'm just going to tell her that. Report an error in the passage at 49:50 Highlight the passage at 49:50

50:16 But all of the people that are here, either they paid or they're worked out. Report an error in the passage at 50:16 Highlight the passage at 50:16

50:25 Could you get a list? Report an error in the passage at 50:25 Highlight the passage at 50:25

50:33 Or it could just go in the box. Report an error in the passage at 50:33 Highlight the passage at 50:33

50:38 After the first class, what we just decided to do with all of the classes is just to do a pay by, class by class. Report an error in the passage at 50:38 Highlight the passage at 50:38

50:50 Yeah, because then it's just easier for the person on the deck. Report an error in the passage at 50:50 Highlight the passage at 50:50

50:55 But if it would help you, because you're the Tuesday night person, I could give you this list, but then you wouldn't necessarily. But anyway, look around the room. And these are your class. Yeah. If you see somebody other than these, Report an error in the passage at 50:55 Highlight the passage at 50:55

51:18 I think Kent and Mike are not going to do the class, except on Thursdays they might pop in. They might just do the Thursday night. Report an error in the passage at 51:18 Highlight the passage at 51:18

51:29 Oh yeah, I'll make that announcement. I have no idea, but I'm hoping by Thursday or Tuesday. And the company where I ordered them from only had eight, and we had nine, and so I had to order one from Amazon, so there's going to be one that comes at a different time, but I figured that might be for your mom and you, because you guys might be able to share a book more now. Report an error in the passage at 51:29 Highlight the passage at 51:29

51:53 But I did order a total of nine, so they will all come. I miss copying down the disadvantages. Oh, that's okay. I started writing, then I looked up and realized I have not remembered. No, that's fine. That's fine, and there might be somebody else of Report an error in the passage at 51:53 Highlight the passage at 51:53

52:14 all the lists. Report an error in the passage at 52:14 Highlight the passage at 52:14

52:19 Of the disadvantages, is that what you missed? It should be, you will not remember the Dharma or practice it. You'll get absorbed into thinking about this life and its mundane concerns. Even when you do remember the Dharma, number two, you'll procrastinate practice or postpone it, always thinking even more time. Report an error in the passage at 52:19 Highlight the passage at 52:19

52:42 Number three, if you... Try to practice. Report an error in the passage at 52:42 Highlight the passage at 52:42

52:48 Come on. Even when you do remember. Procrastinate? Practice or postpone it. What did I forget about? Procrastinate. Procrastinate it. No, procrastinate practice or postpone it. Procrastinate the practice? Yeah, or postpone it. Report an error in the passage at 52:48 Highlight the passage at 52:48

53:20 Third one. Third one. If you try to practice, your practice won't be pure. I don't know. I don't know. I know. Report an error in the passage at 53:20 Highlight the passage at 53:20

52:54 He'll progress. Report an error in the passage at 52:54 Highlight the passage at 52:54

· · · silence, 1 minute

53:29 I would never think I had a pure practice if I thought I was pure. Like pure sounds so holier or something. Yeah, yeah, it sounds like we used to have this great nun here who I hope is listening to this, Tiziana, who is now named Jokar, who's completely pure. Report an error in the passage at 53:29 Highlight the passage at 53:29

53:47 Now she's off doing the master's program in Italy. But if I had to compare myself with that, I would think I might as well just hang it up, you know. So I like sincere because I can be sincere. Report an error in the passage at 53:47 Highlight the passage at 53:47

54:02 And then number four? Lose your determination to practice and drop it completely? Yep. Number five? Or else you'll continue generating, and that's as far as I got. You'll continue creating negative actions and won't attain liberation. Creating negative actions? Report an error in the passage at 54:02 Highlight the passage at 54:02

54:26 And won't attain liberation. Report an error in the passage at 54:26 Highlight the passage at 54:26

54:31 Did you say liberation? Yeah, that's it. year. Report an error in the passage at 54:31 Highlight the passage at 54:31

· · · silence, 1 minute

54:34 Nirvāṇa. Liberation. You won't get there. Okay. And then number six at the time of death. Oh, there were six? Yeah. This is a big one. At the time of death, you'll feel intense regret. Report an error in the passage at 54:34 Highlight the passage at 54:34

54:59 Did you get all the advantages? Report an error in the passage at 54:59 Highlight the passage at 54:59

55:05 Yes. During practice becomes more sincere. During practice and actions becomes more powerful and more meaningful. It's beneficial at the beginning, middle and end of your practice. Report an error in the passage at 55:05 Highlight the passage at 55:05

55:16 Of course there's more. Yeah, beginning is number three, and it sort of pushes you or inspires you, that's why. Report an error in the passage at 55:16 Highlight the passage at 55:16

55:33 And number four is it's beneficial in the middle, when you get sort of tired and lazy with your practice, lose interest. Report an error in the passage at 55:33 Highlight the passage at 55:33

55:48 Okay. And then number five is at the end, kind of push that final bit, you know, at the end, instead of just resting on your laurels, on your samādhi, on your siddhis. cities, attainments. Report an error in the passage at 55:48 Highlight the passage at 55:48

56:06 And then number six is at the hour of your death you'll go with satisfaction, knowing that you spent your life meaning... Report an error in the passage at 56:06 Highlight the passage at 56:06

56:22 Which one? The hour? Report an error in the passage at 56:22 Highlight the passage at 56:22

56:31 Smarty pants. Report an error in the passage at 56:31 Highlight the passage at 56:31

56:37 Do you want to do that thing about the good Dharma student dies happily? Medium, I love this, like their grades. Medium, without fear, at least. The C Dharma student. The C, yeah. The D and below. Okay, so it's a good Dharma student that's happy. Report an error in the passage at 56:37 Highlight the passage at 56:37

57:01 We're going to make her do a presentation on this. How fast can Karen write? Not very. Medium, without fear, at least, without regret. I remember hearing that and going, okay, I know what to shoot for here. Report an error in the passage at 57:01 Highlight the passage at 57:01

57:29 D student. Without regret, at least. Good. That's Report an error in the passage at 57:29 Highlight the passage at 57:29

57:41 very comforting. What about the different levels? How about, you know, is there anything below that? Is there somebody who didn't make the grade? Do they still have some sort of satisfaction? Do they try? You get some brownie points there. Okay, thank you. Report an error in the passage at 57:41 Highlight the passage at 57:41

58:10 Yeah, I think it's about the mind of the person dying. I think that's what makes it a good death. Report an error in the passage at 58:10 Highlight the passage at 58:10

58:19 But, you know, in Buddhism, the mind of the person who's dying is... The conducive conditions for the next life. So it becomes paramount, actually. It becomes really, really important. Which is another reason why, of course, it's useful to work with our minds while we can. Because then we begin to not follow every thought. And at that time, there's lots of thoughts. If we can only imagine, on the best of days, how chaotic our mind is. Report an error in the passage at 58:19 Highlight the passage at 58:19

58:47 And then times it by a million at that point. So the more subdued our mind can be. Before that moment, the more chance we have of it being more subdued and more relaxed and more accepting and more in the present at that time, which makes a difference. But we'll talk about that too. Report an error in the passage at 58:47 Highlight the passage at 58:47

59:15 So everyone should always feel free to go get additional cushions. Change your cushion as you wish. Go get another chair. Report an error in the passage at 59:15 Highlight the passage at 59:15

59:25 Okay, so we're going to start in this class and then the Thursday class and the next. Tuesday, what's called the nine point death meditation from Lama Tsongkhapa's lamrim, Chamo. And it has three main points. Report an error in the passage at 59:25 Highlight the passage at 59:25

59:45 And then each point has three like supporting points. That's why it's called nine points. I don't think I need to say any of this because I think I already said all that. So that's good. So the main points are. That death is certain. Report an error in the passage at 59:45 Highlight the passage at 59:45

1:00:08 Let's wait for Kara. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:08 Highlight the passage at 1:00:08

1:00:15 You should never put it away. You know this is a Galupa class. We're going to have lists all the time. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:15 Highlight the passage at 1:00:15

1:00:27 It's certain. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:27 Highlight the passage at 1:00:27

1:00:35 Oh God, you're great. Death is certain. All right, all together now. Let's yell it as in one voice. Guess I'll be so happy. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:35 Highlight the passage at 1:00:35

1:00:56 Death is certain. The time Report an error in the passage at 1:00:56 Highlight the passage at 1:00:56

1:01:02 of death is uncertain. Let's not yell that one out. Although maybe we should. All right. Death is certain is number one. The time of death is uncertain. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:02 Highlight the passage at 1:01:02

1:01:22 All right. The only thing that will help you at the time of death is your practice. And probably more importantly, it's results, the results in your mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:22 Highlight the passage at 1:01:22

1:01:34 So this week we're going to, I mean, this week. Those two days, this class, we're going to focus on the first point. And actually, in each of these points, you should meditate over and over and over again for months and months and months and even years before you're going to actually have results because our ignorance is really, really thick. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:34 Highlight the passage at 1:01:34

1:01:59 But in this class, we don't have time for that, so we're going to meditate on it. The way I'm going to try to do it is to always meditate, do a meditation at the end of each class. Then you guys will be able to meditate in a couple of times and we'll start with that meditation. Then we'll do the next meditation at the end of that class like that. So we'll always have some time for it. But just understand that that alone isn't going to do it. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:59 Highlight the passage at 1:01:59

1:02:25 It's hard enough when you have a week to do it, but when you've got two days to do it, it's not. So you're just going to learn the meditation. Then you can take it and take some time, which I would encourage you very, very much to do. You can always bring your questions back to me, whether we're formally in a class or not. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:25 Highlight the passage at 1:02:25

1:02:45 So just know that I may take longer than I used to on my emails, but I do eventually get back to anybody, especially if you nudge me a second time. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:45 Highlight the passage at 1:02:45

1:02:58 Okay, so we're going to focus on this first point tonight. don't know. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:58 Highlight the passage at 1:02:58

1:03:03 Did anybody have any questions after the break before we do this? You want to drink your tea before we do this? Any questions that allow both Phil and... You have a question? You have to use the mic, though. Oh, see? There was somebody who didn't get the point. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:03 Highlight the passage at 1:03:03

1:03:28 I'm going to go through all those points again, okay? No, it's okay. No, it's good. These are really important, so it's useful. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:28 Highlight the passage at 1:03:28

1:03:38 If you don't meditate on death and impermanence, or you just want to say if you don't remember death, number one, you won't remember the Dharma or practice it. You'll just get absorbed into daily life. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:38 Highlight the passage at 1:03:38

1:04:07 This might be one of those times for a whiteboard. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:07 Highlight the passage at 1:04:07

1:04:12 Even if you do remember the Dharma, you'll procrastinate practice, thinking you always have more time. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:12 Highlight the passage at 1:04:12

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:04:51 They actually say it's really, really good just to meditate on these advantages and disadvantages too, you know, to try to solidify your determination to meditate on this. Because the mind doesn't want to meditate on this, so you have to keep remembering why on earth you're doing it, you know. And the mind is like, let's just go to a movie or something. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:51 Highlight the passage at 1:04:51

1:05:11 Number three, you ready for number three? Samantha's writing far more than I'm even saying, actually. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:11 Highlight the passage at 1:05:11

1:05:22 She's going up the side of the paper. If you try to practice, your practice won't be sincere. You'll practice for the wrong reasons. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:22 Highlight the passage at 1:05:22

1:05:38 Or your practice as long as it's easy, but not when it's hard. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:38 Highlight the passage at 1:05:38

1:05:52 Number four, you'll lose your determination to practice and will eventually drop it altogether. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:52 Highlight the passage at 1:05:52

1:06:12 We're sprinkling all in the back. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:12 Highlight the passage at 1:06:12

1:06:20 Number five. You'll continue creating negative actions and you won't attain liberation, which Report an error in the passage at 1:06:20 Highlight the passage at 1:06:20

1:06:41 makes sense. You just won't have any bigger vision for your life. You're caught up in all the details. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:41 Highlight the passage at 1:06:41

1:06:54 And then number six, at the time of death, you'll feel intense regret for having wasted this precious opportunity. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:54 Highlight the passage at 1:06:54

1:07:13 That's kind of like a meditation anyway, isn't it? Because we keep doing the same thing over and over. That could be one class. I could do that next time. I'll just say the list over and over. It's like a spoken word thing, you have to think about it. Okay, and the advantages? Your Dharma, number one, your Dharma practice becomes very pure or sincere. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:13 Highlight the passage at 1:07:13

1:07:45 Very sincere. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:45 Highlight the passage at 1:07:45

1:07:51 Okay, you're ready, sorry. You've been writing so much that I wasn't sure. Okay, number two, your Dharma actions become powerful and effective. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:51 Highlight the passage at 1:07:51

1:08:16 It's beneficial at the beginning of your practice because Report an error in the passage at 1:08:16 Highlight the passage at 1:08:16

1:08:27 it inspires you with a sense of urgency. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:27 Highlight the passage at 1:08:27

1:08:38 They say it's powerful because it helps you avoid the thought of the eight worldly concerns, but that's only going to mean something to you if you know what those are. Basically getting pulled into, you know, those sort of mundane things that we get pulled into, you know, that's what helps you cut. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:38 Highlight the passage at 1:08:38

1:09:01 Number four, it's beneficial in the middle of your Dharma practice, again, to avoid the thought of the eight worldly concerns. But it inspires you when you get tired and you lose interest in your practice. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:01 Highlight the passage at 1:09:01

1:09:33 And number five, it's beneficial at the end of your Dharma practice. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:33 Highlight the passage at 1:09:33

1:09:47 It's like it gets you through to the end. So even if you've had some really good results of your practice and you're starting to have sort of some attainments or some realizations, it keeps you going instead of just kind of settling down and not doing anything. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:47 Highlight the passage at 1:09:47

1:10:03 And then number six, in the hour of your death, you'll go with satisfaction. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:03 Highlight the passage at 1:10:03

1:10:09 Knowing that you've spent your life meaningfully. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:09 Highlight the passage at 1:10:09

1:10:17 And then Cara, do you want to say the three students? No, I'm kidding. Good Dharma student, there you go, dies happily. Medium Dharma student, dies without fear. And the rest of us die without regret. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:17 Highlight the passage at 1:10:17

1:10:40 It's useful. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:40 Highlight the passage at 1:10:40

1:10:49 The last point on the which one? Oh, of this meditation. Death is certain, the time of death is uncertain, and the only thing that will help you at the time of death is your practice. And I added, and it's results. And it's results, yeah. It sort of gets down to what is practice, which we'll get to when we get to that point. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:49 Highlight the passage at 1:10:49

1:11:15 I think a lot of times people think practice is only the formal stuff. But it's like, how are you dealing with what comes up in your life all the time? That's practice too, really. One of my friends who actually defined it something like, how you react to whatever comes at you all the time with whatever you've got. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:15 Highlight the passage at 1:11:15

1:11:37 That's practice. Which I actually like, because that's kind of the way my practice is, rather than only the formal time, you know. So we're going to start with this first point. Death is certain. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:37 Highlight the passage at 1:11:37

1:11:54 And you'll get the full meditation, so you can stop taking notes now. You can put your notebooks down. Do not look at your neighbor's papers. So just try to get into some sort of meditation posture again for this final meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:54 Highlight the passage at 1:11:54

1:12:14 Try to take some time with it. But I'll leave a little bit of time so that you can ask some questions. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:14 Highlight the passage at 1:12:14

1:12:24 Now we've all got our giggling out, so hopefully. So this one, this point that death is certain is one of these points that it's not news to us, but again, the point of this meditation is to chip away at this ignorant mind that lives in denial that I'm going to die. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:24 Highlight the passage at 1:12:24

1:12:50 That's true for me. It may be true for all other sentient beings. It may be true for everyone else in this room. But there's some part of me that doesn't yet believe it's going to happen to me. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:50 Highlight the passage at 1:12:50

1:13:05 So death is certain. The first point is that no power in the universe can stop death. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:05 Highlight the passage at 1:13:05

1:13:14 So here we just think, you can take different examples, but nobody can stop death. You know, the most powerful people, the richest people, kings. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:14 Highlight the passage at 1:13:14

1:13:30 Celebrities. Nobody has the power to change their karma when that moment of death comes. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:30 Highlight the passage at 1:13:30

1:13:46 And just think about people that we hear about who tried, you know. If anybody has read anything about Howard Hughes and how he really tried to change his karma and really couldn't. And kings have done this too, got the best of doctors. Maybe even making an entire wing of their home into a hospital. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:46 Highlight the passage at 1:13:46

1:14:14 Better medical care or medicine. But you can't buy off death. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:14 Highlight the passage at 1:14:14

1:14:29 And there's not even any guarantees that you can have less suffering because that's dependent upon karma. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:29 Highlight the passage at 1:14:29

1:14:41 So think about all the great rulers, all the people of power who've all died. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:41 Highlight the passage at 1:14:41

1:14:59 Once our karma for this life ends, we call that death. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:59 Highlight the passage at 1:14:59

1:15:16 You can also think about how there's nowhere to go to escape death. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:16 Highlight the passage at 1:15:16

1:15:28 You can't run away from death. People die on vacation, they die on pilgrimage. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:28 Highlight the passage at 1:15:28

1:15:40 You can't escape your karma and you can't escape your body and death is already inside your body. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:40 Highlight the passage at 1:15:40

1:15:50 Taking on this body means that we have to die. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:50 Highlight the passage at 1:15:50

1:15:58 Sometimes people do crazy things when they find out they're dying, try to escape death, but they can't. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:58 Highlight the passage at 1:15:58

1:16:26 Think about people that are even doing amazing things or have done amazing things in this world. Even the best of them had to die, like Martin Luther King Jr. or Mother Teresa, Report an error in the passage at 1:16:26 Highlight the passage at 1:16:26

1:16:46 any of the saints, any of the yogis. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:46 Highlight the passage at 1:16:46

1:16:57 People die in long retreat too. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:57 Highlight the passage at 1:16:57

1:17:08 So why do I think I'm different? Report an error in the passage at 1:17:08 Highlight the passage at 1:17:08

1:17:23 The second point is that one can't add time to life. One gets closer to death every minute. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:23 Highlight the passage at 1:17:23

1:17:37 So here you begin to think about how each moment, each minute, each second. Leads us closer to death and we can never add them back. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:37 Highlight the passage at 1:17:37

1:17:58 So even the time since we've been here, that time's gone and this day is gone and this month is gone. It's the 31st. Just irreversibly gone. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:58 Highlight the passage at 1:17:58

1:18:22 You can meditate on this in different ways. You can think about how every breath brings us closer. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:22 Highlight the passage at 1:18:22

1:18:33 Every action that we do. It brings us closer. You know, one, like we talked about last time, at one point, everything that you do will be the last time. You know, the last cup of tea, the last time you get dressed, the last shower. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:33 Highlight the passage at 1:18:33

1:19:01 Those great practitioners, the Kadampa Geshe's, used to wash their cups and leave them upside down when they finished a cup of tea in case they died and someone else had to find it. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:01 Highlight the passage at 1:19:01

1:19:14 And when they got up in the morning, they always made their beds. As though they were never going to get back in it. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:14 Highlight the passage at 1:19:14

1:19:28 Think about people that you know who have died. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:28 Highlight the passage at 1:19:28

1:19:34 And the last meal that they ate, not knowing that it was their last. Maybe rushing through it the way we do. Not even tasting it. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:34 Highlight the passage at 1:19:34

1:19:44 Assuming that there would be another. Always assuming that there'll be another. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:44 Highlight the passage at 1:19:44

1:19:58 There's always a final time that we'll hear our favorite song or see a friend or see a loved one. And Report an error in the passage at 1:19:58 Highlight the passage at 1:19:58

1:20:12 then when that person passes, if you have... Experiences like this in your life, think of them. That's what makes it go down deeply, is bringing in your own personal examples. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:12 Highlight the passage at 1:20:12

1:20:32 When I was 22, I went to bed one night, and I remember very clearly my dad was reading on the sofa, and Report an error in the passage at 1:20:32 Highlight the passage at 1:20:32

1:20:47 that was his final night. He just called out, good night, and we all just assumed we had another day. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:47 Highlight the passage at 1:20:47

1:21:09 Or you can meditate on how everyone in this city Report an error in the passage at 1:21:09 Highlight the passage at 1:21:09

1:21:15 We'll be gone in a hundred years' time, except just the tiniest ones, maybe a few of them. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:15 Highlight the passage at 1:21:15

1:21:31 Or those of us in this room in 50 years' time, probably. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:31 Highlight the passage at 1:21:31

1:21:38 Might be a couple of exceptions. The Report an error in the passage at 1:21:38 Highlight the passage at 1:21:38

1:21:55 one who was born on the same day is me. A few of them are already gone. Actually, in my case, quite a few that I actually know. People I went to school with. No matter how young we are. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:55 Highlight the passage at 1:21:55

1:22:16 So why do I think I'm any different? Report an error in the passage at 1:22:16 Highlight the passage at 1:22:16

1:22:29 Lama Zopa Rinpoche says it's like we spend our whole lives running toward a cliff and that cliff is death, running towards it. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:29 Highlight the passage at 1:22:29

1:22:46 It's like a river moving towards a waterfall and then moving over. The moments in our life are like this. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:46 Highlight the passage at 1:22:46

1:23:08 The Sūtra of Cosmic Play says the three realms are impermanent like a cloud in the autumn sky. Watching as people are born and die is the same as theater. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:08 Highlight the passage at 1:23:08

1:23:21 The passing of a person's life is a single flash of lightning. We rush on our way to the end with speed like a mountain waterfall. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:21 Highlight the passage at 1:23:21

1:23:38 Watching as people are born and die is the same as theater. It's because they take on different personalities and identities in each life, just like parts in a play. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:38 Highlight the passage at 1:23:38

1:24:01 You can even think about how there's never a time that our life isn't moving away. It's not like only when we're aware of it, only when we're meditating, only when we're contemplating. If we're just spaced out watching TV, Report an error in the passage at 1:24:01 Highlight the passage at 1:24:01

1:24:20 it's still moving towards death. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:20 Highlight the passage at 1:24:20

1:24:31 Lama Tsongkhapa said, don't take comfort just because you haven't died yet. That's like a man who's fallen off a cliff taking comfort in the fact that he's still in midair and hasn't hit the ground. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:31 Highlight the passage at 1:24:31

1:24:45 Thinking about these things isn't to depress, you know, to make us depressed or upset. It's to make our self-cherishing mind let go of this idea that I am going to last forever. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:45 Highlight the passage at 1:24:45

1:25:05 We have to chip away at this mind, this ignorant mind, because it keeps us from doing anything meaningful with our life. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:05 Highlight the passage at 1:25:05

1:25:19 The final point is, while still alive, our time for spiritual practice is extremely limited. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:19 Highlight the passage at 1:25:19

1:25:28 Think about how little time we make for practice now. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:28 Highlight the passage at 1:25:28

1:25:37 How we might hurry through a practice to be able to watch a movie or read the paper. Think Report an error in the passage at 1:25:37 Highlight the passage at 1:25:37

1:25:46 about how little time we make to do retreat or Report an error in the passage at 1:25:46 Highlight the passage at 1:25:46

1:25:54 any more serious practice. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:54 Highlight the passage at 1:25:54

1:26:02 But if I think about what little time I have left, Assuming that I get to live a full life and not die in an accident or something else. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:02 Highlight the passage at 1:26:02

1:26:18 If I think about how much of that time I spend working or sleeping or eating or processing or fighting or going to the movies or reading the Sunday New York Times, being sick, going to work, going on vacation, how much time is really left for practice? Report an error in the passage at 1:26:18 Highlight the passage at 1:26:18

1:26:47 It isn't much. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:47 Highlight the passage at 1:26:47

1:26:53 And even when we go on retreat, how much of that time is spent sleeping or taking showers or going on walks or reading, writing notes to the caretakers, eating. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:53 Highlight the passage at 1:26:53

1:27:12 Our time for spiritual practice is so short and so limited and our practice is so weak. It doesn't do me any good to think I have forever. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:12 Highlight the passage at 1:27:12

1:27:33 Again, Lama Tsongkhapa said, and so all the good things of this life are like the happiness of one night's dream. You wake and then it's nothing more than a memory. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:33 Highlight the passage at 1:27:33

1:27:46 The time comes to die and every good you ever had lives only in a dim remembrance. So Report an error in the passage at 1:27:46 Highlight the passage at 1:27:46

1:27:59 I make some resolution at the end of this meditation, knowing that I have to die. Then I resolve to begin our practice. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:59 Highlight the passage at 1:27:59

1:28:14 I resolve not to waste my time so much to Report an error in the passage at 1:28:14 Highlight the passage at 1:28:14

1:28:21 use this precious opportunity, this life, this window. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:21 Highlight the passage at 1:28:21

1:28:31 And so we can motivate this class, this meditation, to each of us being able to do that much in this life, to Report an error in the passage at 1:28:31 Highlight the passage at 1:28:31

1:28:44 understand how precious our opportunity is, what incredible opportunity it is, and actually use it to work with our mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:44 Highlight the passage at 1:28:44

1:28:56 Not just to benefit ourselves and even the people around us in this life, but going forward into the next. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:56 Highlight the passage at 1:28:56

1:29:07 Gained from this class, become the seeds of that realization. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:07 Highlight the passage at 1:29:07

1:29:24 As you're ready, Report an error in the passage at 1:29:24 Highlight the passage at 1:29:24

1:29:28 meditation, open your eyes. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:28 Highlight the passage at 1:29:28

1:29:48 Does anybody have any questions about that meditation? So you kind of use different examples to kind of get it through your mind. If you have examples of that in your mind of... Final times that you saw somebody that you didn't realize was a final time. So it's not so much when they're in the hospital. It works better if they had some sort of a sudden death. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:48 Highlight the passage at 1:29:48

1:30:12 That assumption that we always have, Rabina is always saying that. We always assume, right? We always assume when we go to bed that we're going to wake up in the morning. She said it's like we should be in tears of bliss when we wake up in the morning. We should be thrilled that we wake up in the morning. We just assume, of course, we are, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:12 Highlight the passage at 1:30:12

1:30:30 We just move past that realization the minute we wake up. But it's the same with those final moments with others and sometimes that can have a profound effect of thinking about the final time that you were with somebody and not knowing it was your final time or even their final times of doing things. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:30 Highlight the passage at 1:30:30

1:30:50 Like I was mentioning that friend of mine, Laurel, last week who had no reason to think, conventionally speaking, that she would die. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:50 Highlight the passage at 1:30:50

1:31:01 You know, and probably rushed a final meal to get on the road again and didn't taste it, you know, had a final cup of coffee in her hand. So just thinking about that as a way of just trying to cut through that ignorance that just blinds us to the reality of our situation. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:01 Highlight the passage at 1:31:01

1:31:23 But you can also think, yeah, I mean, sometimes people think of like an hourglass, the way sand, you know, except I always think of days of our lives. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:23 Highlight the passage at 1:31:23

1:31:33 Sorry. But yeah, like things like that, or candles, you know, that can burn for a certain amount of time, and then you know that they have to go out. Especially with butter lamps, you know, real butter lamps, not butter lamps with tea lights in them. But like where you put a certain amount of butter in them, or you could think of an oil lamp, you know, which is our equivalent. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:33 Highlight the passage at 1:31:33

1:31:57 At a certain point, that has to be used up. You know, the oil is used up, and the light has to go out. It's the same with us. At a certain point the karma is used up. So you can think of different images that mean something to you. And you might see an image this week that makes it, you know, like when you're not meditating and you're just kind of walking around and you're like, oh wow, it's like that, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:57 Highlight the passage at 1:31:57

1:32:22 So look around and think about it. Like think about it when you're watching the news or thinking about it. Think about it when you're even watching like a drama or a comedy show. Just thinking about it, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:22 Highlight the passage at 1:32:22

1:32:34 Yeah. Because there's all sorts of examples. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:34 Highlight the passage at 1:32:34

1:32:40 That can get it through to our minds. Does anybody have any questions? Report an error in the passage at 1:32:40 Highlight the passage at 1:32:40

1:32:50 This is a very sober class, I know. That's why I hired Chara to have the problems with the notes. I'll pay you later. A little comic relief. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:50 Highlight the passage at 1:32:50

1:33:05 It's good for me though too. Just reviewing it all and remembering. Maybe make my practice more powerful too. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:05 Highlight the passage at 1:33:05

1:33:19 So no questions. Okay. All right, well, have a good week. Oh, I did want to make an announcement. Speaking of impermanence, I think I had mentioned, at least to some of you, that Lama was going to teach on two Fridays next, this Friday and the following Friday. That's not happening. So April 3rd, you know, because you did the April calendar. April 3rd and April 10th, he was going to teach and that got canceled. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:19 Highlight the passage at 1:33:19

1:33:50 I think that's it. Okay. Thank you. Samantha, do you want to hand this homework out? Report an error in the passage at 1:33:50 Highlight the passage at 1:33:50

1:34:01 Let's see if I guessed right on the numbers. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:01 Highlight the passage at 1:34:01

1:34:22 about that. can give it to you next week. Or I can run up if you want to wait. I can run up and get it. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:22 Highlight the passage at 1:34:22

1:34:34 read in the Discovering Buddhism banger on the train home instead, which was very good. Yeah, you've got to do both. We have two extras. Wow. Or more than that. This is the original. Is that okay? Because she didn't get it all Alright. Yeah, I did it for Mike and Kent. Well, but I can give it to him on Thursday. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:34 Highlight the passage at 1:34:34